After a few moments, they fluttered open again, and you looked at the man. The reality was beginning to set in, and you sat up slightly, your trembling only escalating.
Was he... dead?
Hesitating for a moment, you examined him, his chest too brutalised to even see if he was breathing. Then you frantically scrambled over, sitting on your knees beside his head as your eyes widened.
One hand went to his bloody neck, attempting to feel a pulse. But it was very apparent he was long gone.
You had just fucking killed someone.
"No.... No, no, no...."
The denial was instant, falling back onto your ass as you felt panic grip you once more. You had just murdered someone. A real person. Someone with a name, a family, a life.
Even if he had just tried to take yours, you could feel tears sprouting to your eyes again despite your exhaustion.
Even if nobody came around this part of the woods, someone would report him missing. They would trace his steps, find his car somewhere near here, and eventually find him.
You would be locked away forever, after trying so hard to survive. All the work you put into it would be wasted just because you had lost control.
"Fuck, no..." You mumbled again, your chest heaving as your hands trembled, scrambling to touch the wall as you heaved yourself onto your feet.
You had to get out of here, find somewhere new. Where nobody would find you. Nobody would believe he tried to kill you first, not when you only had a bruised ankle and thighs to show for it, and he looked like... that.
Your mind shut off as you moved automatically, changing into your previous day clothes and grabbing up a large bag.
Stuffing your sleeping bag and blanket into it, you began tearing the house apart, chucking your favourite book and personal belongings in as well before moving to the kitchen.
You packed aimlessly, not bothering to estimate how much food you would need.
After ransacking your cabin, you ran towards the door, but paused beside your bedroom door. Taking one last, gut-wrenching look at what you had done, you squeezed your eyes shut as you leant down and yanked your knife out of his chest. The squelching noise made you want to vomit.
Then you ran.
And you kept running until your lungs stung, until your throat felt like it was bleeding, until your legs were completely numb. Your mind was so blank yet so loud at the same time, feeling detached from your body as you tried to convince yourself this was just a messed up dream. It felt like you had been running for only a few minutes, but you had been sprinting deeper and deeper into the forest for hours.
Unfortunately, your detachment got the best of you, as you suddenly felt the ground disappear from beneath your feet.
"Shit-!" You exclaimed loudly, your cry echoing through the forest as you fell down a steep hill, landing with a loud thump against the ground before rolling down.
A yelp of agony slipped from your lips as you rolled right into a rock, hitting your hip with a sickening thump. It was numb for a moment as your momentum slowed, leaving you laid staring up at the dark forest.
Then the pain began, an unbearable stinging spreading from your hip like electricity. Groans of pain slipped from your lips, rolling onto your side as you clutched your hip, gritting your teeth in an attempt to distract yourself.
"Fucking hell!" You wailed out, writhing on the forest floor like a dying snake.
"Those are naughty words," a sudden voice cut through the dark, making you shut up and sit up as your body filled with dread again, "you're not supposed to say those, L.J said."
"W-Who's there?" You called out, trying not to sound as terrified as you were.
The voice was soft and high-pitched, and as a shadow approached, the moonlight lit up the voice's owner.
Just as you thought, it was a little girl. She seemed normal enough, wearing a long, pink nightgown with the word 'Sally' stitched onto the front. Her brown hair was long and wavy, her eyes a startling green as she peered down at you with concern.
But as she got closer and the moonlight hit her a bit more, you saw how dirty her nightgown and white socks were, how scraped her legs were, and more disturbingly, the blood running down her face from a clotted wound on her head.
"Are you okay?" The little girl, who you assumed was called Sally, asked.
"U-Uhm, no, I think my hip is broken-" you began, but felt more concerned that a bloody child was in the woods alone, "Are you okay?"
"Me?" Sally's voice clouded in confusion, as if she was completely unaware of her wound, "Yes, of course!"
"Er, okay..." you said hesitantly, not wanting to point out her wound in case it frightened her, "Could you- uh- could you get... 'L.J'?"
"Uhh, I think he's working... but Mr. Slendy is home!" She offered cheerfully, her bright smile making your heart hurt.
The state of her reminded her painfully of your younger self, down to the nightgown and bloody, injured appearance. But your thoughts were cut short as she continued to speak.
"That isn't your blood, is it?"
"What?!" You exclaimed, your mouth falling open as this literal child accused you of murder. And the fact she was right unsettled you even more, "Er- no, I mean- no as in it isn't someone else's..."
"I can tell, it's okay! I won't tell." Sally replied, her innocent, joyful smile not fading despite the topic.
'What the fuck does she mean she can tell???' You screamed internally, too shocked to even say anything as you stared at her, dumbfounded.
"Okay, I did. But... he was a bad man..." you explained quietly as you finally found your words, trying to say it gently for the child even though she was weirdly unfazed by murder, "...I didn't mean to."
"That's okay. Bad men deserve it." Sally said, her voice suddenly firm as her eyebrows furrowed slightly. But it quickly disappeared, smiling once again, "Come, Mr. Slendy can help."
Only nodding slowly, a bit too unnerved to say anything else, you used the rock that had injured you to climb to your feet. You winced as you tried to not put any weight onto it, but Sally didn't wait, turning and beginning to disappear into the dark.
"Shi- I mean- Hey! Bloody girl, slow down!" You called out, picking up your things quickly and stumbling after her.
Sally paused, turning and outstretching her hand for yours. When you caught up and took it, she began leading you through the forest once again, seeming to know the way through the thick, dark trees.
This felt oddly familiar, a sense of deja vu overtaking you as you attempted to remember where from. Then it hit you. The dream you had in the car, when your parents were driving you to these very woods to abandon you.
This couldn't be real. Had you... predicted this?
Your mind reeled as you began to try and wrap your head around this revelation, wondering if this was destiny or if you were just psychic. Lost in thought, you didn't notice Sally pulling you up the porch of a huge, badly constructed mansion. Or notice her opening the large, weirdly tall door and pulling you in.
But you did notice the instant pain in your head, static filling your mind and sending you crumbling to the floor as white noise rang in your ears.
It was worse than the pain in your hip, and your hands found your ears, attempting to deafen whatever noise was causing you to react this way. But it had no effect, and you could barely even hear your wails of pain through it.
"W-What's happening?!" You cried out, but was unsure if you were saying it to yourself or Sally.
Through the static and piercing ringing noise, you could hear a deep, echoing voice speak to Sally, but you could only make out the little girl's words.
"But she's hurt! Please, help her. She needs our help!" Sally pleaded, and as you looked up through blurry eyes, you could see a huge, tall figure bend down.
But before you could get a better look, you felt your eyes roll back into your head as you fell unconscious.
-
When you came to, the pain you had felt when you passed out was gone, only replaced with a groggy, dizzy feeling.
As your eyes fluttered open, you were instantly hit with a pale room, and groaned at how bright it was. Closing your eyes again, you gave yourself a moment to come to a bit more.
Then you opened them, fluttering your eyelids a few more times until your vision cleared.
You were in a soft, hospital bed, a drip hooked up to your arm and dressed in a pale hospital gown. The room you were in wasn't actually white, its walls made up of wooden planks as well as floor. But the curtain around your bed was, and there was a window beside you.
Peering out, you could see it was the middle of the day, but the sun was weirdly dim, making it look like dusk. You were very high up, that you could tell, but the trees of the forest were quite tall themselves, stretching past the roof.
As you did, you could see three figures running about. Through your daze, you couldn't make out their facial features, but one had black hair and was wearing a white hoodie, chasing someone with a black hoodie and blue mask. The third was sat on the grass nearby, with blonde hair mostly covered by a greyish-green and black striped beanie.
Before you could look any closer, your curtain was suddenly ripped open, and you yelped in surprise as you turned to see who it was.
There stood someone who you assumed was a doctor, as he held a clipboard and was wearing a lab coat over a button-up shirt, tie and dress pants.
His hair was black, layered and messy, falling into his face, which was mostly concealed by a white mask with a creepy smile etched onto it.
Most strange about his appearance was his bright red eyes, which examined you curiously from your bed.
"Well, someone's back from the dead," he joked, his voice deep and smooth as he approached the side of your bed. His eyes squinted as his mask twitched, indicating a smile, "Nice to meet you, formally. I'm Dr. Smiley."
"Uh..." you began, but lost your words as you stared up into his red eyes, trying to process what was happening, "Where am I?"
A part of you was convinced that Sally and the tall man was just a twisted dream, and you had just been knocked unconscious when you fell in the woods.
And if you were found and taken to a hospital, they had certainly found the man you had murdered. Which meant your escape was pointless. You were going to jail.
"Calm down, sweetheart," Dr. Smiley placed his gloved hand on your shoulder gently and pushed you back against your pillow. You hadn't even realised you had began to rise out of bed, "You're at the Slendermansion medical ward. Sally brought you here. Do you remember?"
A sense of relief fell over you. So it wasn't a dream, and you hadn't been caught. But you were still confused by exactly what kind of place this was if they didn't care you were a murderer.
Were you more in danger here than you would be in prison?
"...yes." You eventually replied quietly, staring up at Dr. Smiley with a startled, deer-in-headlights look.
"Good, that means Slenderman didn't fry your brain," Dr. Smiley said, and for a moment you thought it was a joke, but his tone of voice indicating it was not, "speaking of... he's been waiting for you to wake up. One moment..."
The doctor then picked up a syringe and vial, sticking the needle into the vial and drawing out some of the liquid. Then he placed the small bottle back down, tapping the side of the syringe and pushing it to make sure there were no air bubbles.
Then, without warning, he stuck it into your arm and injected it into your bloodstream.
"Woah, hey-! What the fuck was that?! Are you trying to kill me?!" You jerked back, your eyes widening as you realised it was too late. He had emptied the syringe into you.
"Calm down," he placed a hand on your shoulder again, his steady gaze making you oddly inclined the listen despite the fact he had just injected a mystery drug into you, "it's just so you can speak to him momentarily, without all the... brain frying."
"Is he radioactive or something? You need to ship him back to Chernobyl, because I think I'm good if he is," you replied cautiously, cringing slightly.
Dr. Smiley laughed, his eyes turning into crescents as he grinned under his mask, but you stared back at him with a confused look on your face. What was so funny? You didn't think having the Elephants Foot as a man here was very funny.
"Beautiful and funny. Everyone is going to love you, sweetheart," Dr. Smiley mused, but picked up on the confused look on your face, "he isn't radioactive. Just... well, you'll see. Just wait a moment..."
Dr. Smiley moved to stand outside your curtain, a concentrated look on his face as he did. Then the energy in the room shifted, making the hair on the back of your neck stand up and goosebumps run along your arm.
Then a freakishly tall figure moved to stand beside the doctor. And whatever it was, tall was possible an understatement. Its limbs were unsettlingly long, and was wearing a black suit with a red tie that somehow fit its circus-worthy arms and legs.
But most unsettling, was the fact its skin was completely white, and its face was... well, it didn't have one.
"I think that drug is making me hallucinate," you said to Dr. Smiley, trying to comprehend what you were seeing. But your jaw dropped open as the doctor looked up at your hallucination.
"You are not," A deep, firm voice echoed in your mind, and you turned your head around the room in confusion. You had to be tripping, "I am Slenderman, head of the Creepypastas. And you are Y/N."
"What the fuck is happening?" You said to Dr. Smiley again, who only nodded towards the tall figure who you assumed was the source of the voice.
That nod made you realise this was not a hallucination. Which only made your situation even worse, because you were struggling to comprehend that this creature was real, and was capable of not only conscience, but also telepathy.
As the creature approached you, you began to realise just how tall it was, and it slowly sat himself down into the chair by your bed. Even still, it towered over you.
"I am not an 'It', thank you," he spoke again, his calm yet loud voice almost making your brain hurt as he spoke directly into it, "You are awake, finally."
"...sorry," you replied meekly, not even bothering to try and wrap your head around what the fuck was happening anymore, "...so, you don't have a face? How many fingers am I holding up?"
You reached out, holding up four fingers directly in his featureless face. Slenderman paused, somehow showing his disapproval despite having no features. Dr. Smiley stifled a chuckle as he watched, his eyebrows raising slightly at your behaviour.
"...Four. Now, if you're finished with your games..." Slenderman began, and you dropped your arms with a satisfied nod of your head, "...You have killed recently, have you not?"
The memories of that dreaded night suddenly came flooding back, and your face fell as you attempted to push them back into their box, a heavy feeling forming in your chest.
Slenderman seemed to assess your reaction, leaning forward as if intrigued by your human response to what you had done.
"Y/N, your reaction is understandable. After all, you were in danger. However, you have two choices now.
Seeing this mansion, seeing me, means you will not be able to return to your life as it was. Either we form an... agreement, or you die now.
Which would you prefer?"
His words sent a chill up your spine, and you stared at his faceless head, feeling your eyes widen in terror until it felt like they would pop out your head.
You knew being rescued was too good to be true.
Despite everything that had happened to you, despite how hard it was to deal with, you didn't want to die. You had always been a survivor, fighting to live in a world that wanted you dead.
And you needed to survive again.
"What's the agreement?" You asked hesitantly, gripping the blanket of the hospital bed to relieve some of your nervous energy.
"You agree to become a Creepypasta, and I will let you live in this mansion. You will be given a room, and will be provided everything you will ever need... a fair deal."
Despite him being faceless, you could tell all his attention was set on you, almost making you squirm as the silence grew longer.
You mulled over it, knowing there had to be some kind of catch. You didn't even know what a Creepypasta was, all you knew was that Slenderman led them, which he had told you only a few seconds ago.
But before you could ask, he interrupted you.
"A Creepypasta is an individual who works for me, born from characters in online stories intended to create fear in hearts of readers. You will not have to do anything you are unfamiliar with."
His response was pretty broad, 'familiar' could mean anything from furnishing an abandoned cabin to robbing people.
But you didn't have any other option. It was this or die, and the deal did seem pretty fair.
After a few moments, you looked up again and nodded once, a crooked smile forming on your face.
"Alright. Sounds fair."
With that, Slenderman suddenly stood. You let out a surprised yelp as huge, black tentacles emerged from his back and curled around your waist tightly, lifting you out of your bed with ease.
"W-What the fuck?!" You exclaimed as he reached out a hand, hovering it just over your chest.
You watched helplessly as something suddenly glowed within your chest, and he moved his hand up across your neck. You felt whatever it was begin to clog your throat, and you began to choke, your eyes tearing up as his hand led up your neck, then hovered over your mouth.
Then whatever it was glided up your throat, shooting out of your mouth and into the palm of his huge, white hand.
His tentacles instantly dropped you, making you land with a loud thump as you doubled over, coughing desperately. It felt like a part of you had been ripped out of you, leaving you empty and cold.
Clutching your chest, you looked up desperately for an explanation, but Slenderman had already disappeared into thin air.